Elizabeth Banks promises the eccentric look of her Hunger Games character will be faithfully adapted. The Dark Tower is still happening...maybe. John Noble explains how to play two Walters at once on Fringe. Plus a Game of Thrones casting update!

Spoilers from here on out!

Top image from Doctor Who.

Man of Steel

A purported casting sheet for the upcoming filming in the Vancouver area is said to include this synopsis for the film:

In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time. Clark Kent/Kal-El (Cavill) is a young twentysomething journalist who feels alienated by powers beyond anyone's imagination. Transported to Earth years ago from Krypton, an advanced alien planet, Clark struggles with the ultimate question - Why am I here? Shaped by the values of his adoptive parents Martha (Lane) and Jonathan Kent (Costner), Clark soon discovers that having super abilities means making very difficult decisions. But when the world needs stability the most, it comes under attack. Will his abilities be used to maintain peace or ultimately used to divide and conquer? Clark must become the hero known as "Superman," not only to shine as the world's last beacon of hope but to protect the ones he loves.

The British Columbia filming is also looking for the following types to be extras:

Especially seeking older character faces and those who could be passed off as loggers for Nanaimo and commercial fishermen in Ucluelet.

The Avengers

Here's a set video featuring more of the big battle scene.

The Hunger Games

Elizabeth Banks, who is playing Effie Trinket in the film, says the movie faithfully captures the crazy wardrobe and constantly changing hair that her character has in the books. Banks also promised that this won't be a CGI-heavy film:

"There are some special effects, but I have to say a lot of it is practical. A lot of running around in the woods and the arena is a very real sort of place."

Contagion

Fright Night

Here's a red band clip, in which the vampire Jerry (Colin Farrell) tries to get the upper hand on his human prey.

Neighborhood Watch

Jonah Hill is reportedly in talks to join Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn in this comedy about a bunch of suburban guys starting a neighborhood watch...and then stumbling upon an alien invasion, which seems to happen in every other movie these days. [Vulture]

The Dark Tower

Ron Howard's producing partner Brian Grazer says that, despite Universal pulling out of the project, they are still trying to get the project off the ground by securing additional funding elsewhere. Grazer also says that they hope to produce the television side of the adaptation even if the movies don't happen, and that Javier Bardem is still in line to play Roland, assuming his schedule allows it. Grazer did say that the various directing gigs Ron Howard took on after the initial cancellation of the project mean that the absolute earliest that project could start would be June 2012. [The New York Post]

The Skin Trade

George R.R. Martin's 1989 werewolf novella is being adapted by Mike the Pike Productions, with plans "to secure A-list attachments (writer, director, cast)" and a planned budget of $60-$80 million. Here's a synopsis of the planned film:

"When a string of grotesque killings begins to strike her small city, private detective Randi Wade becomes suspicious. A serial killer is taking the skin of its victims and the grisly murders remind her all too much of her own father's death almost twenty years ago. As the police hit a dead end, Randi goes on a search for answers of her own... But when a close friend suddenly becomes a target, he is forced to reveal a startling secret about himself and Randi is quickly pulled into a dark underworld where monsters exist and prey on the living."

Doctor Who

Now for a roundup of various spoiler-y tidbits. Let's start with these six, which go a long way towards clarifying the rumors of previous companion cameos:

- We see River Song.
- Somebody dies.
- Martha, Rose and Donna make an appearance as a hologram / picture or some sort.
- Fishfinger Custard makes a return.
- Rory punches Hitler (and there is another punch too)
- Watch out for the 'Order of the Silence', 'Numbskulls' and 'Corn Circles'.

There are a few more minor tidbits at the following link - the main takeaway is that the mystery of the regenerating little girl from the beginning of the season will be explained. [Whoniverse Blog]

Our resident Doctor Who spoiler machine bluehinter explains that the creature in this promo photo is a "time-traveling robotic jellyfish." They're effectively the monsters in "Let's Kill Hitler", functioning as "antibodies" when people try to alter the course of history, which might come into play when one, say, tries to kill Hitler.

When asked whether he'd be back as Rory for season seven, here's what Arthur Darvill had to say:

"I will be coming back at some point… There is an involvement in some way."

It's looking increasingly likely that that "Amy and Rory become part-time companions" rumor is more or less true, but we probably won't know exactly what's going on for a little while yet. [SFX]

And here are some behind-the-scenes photos. I'm not totally clear which episode(s) these are from, but presumably it's from sometime this season. [Doctor Who Tumblr]

Fringe

John Noble discusses how the two Walters will interact with each other:

"We do have arguments with ourselves. Most people seem to have this conflict within themselves and it can be quite vicious when you tend to say, 'That was stupid. What are you doing?' [The Walters] will build it up until such time as they realize they're being childish and they have to put this extraordinary brain into one piece to solve a problem larger than their own egos."

The show is looking to cast "an intelligent and thoughtful scientist in his 50s who was once viewed as the most daring and innovative mind in his field." [TV Line]

Game of Thrones

Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter Oona Chaplin has reportedly been cast as Jeyne Westerling, a love interest of Robb Stark. Her role in the second book is relatively minor, but her role is reportedly being expanded for the coming season. [SFX]

True Blood

Here's an interview with Pam actress Kristin Bauer.

The love triangle between Jason, Jessica, and Hoyt will come to a head in this Sunday's episode, and the back of a pickup truck is apparently involved. [TV Line]

The Walking Dead

Show director and cinematographer David Boyd explains how he filmed Herschel's Farm:

You know I've grown to think of these structures — the house and the barn — as anthropomorphic. They have spirits, is how I've approached photographing them. You look at the house and I try to make that thing look vicious. I try to give it eyes and a nose and see what expression it might be feeling. And Greg Melton designed a barn that you'd swear is alive. It's got two hayloft windows up above for eyes, there's a little central thing to pull hay in that looks like a nose and the barn doors themselves are a mouth. And by God I make sure the farmhouse looks like it's alive. I'll give the upstairs windows a little glimmer as if this thing is lifting its eyelids, and looking out like a crocodile.

What does that make the barn?
That's something else. What would that be? A rattlesnake.

Chuck

Executive producer Chris Fedak explains why they altered the show's structure for the final season:

I was really worried about that because I think that General Beckman delivering missions is a very easy way to tell television. I think for us, we were really worried about that, but the truth is that's very exciting. It's neat. Even here in the final 13 episodes, to kind of reboot the show… The way that the show works is that Chuck and Sarah now have to go out and get missions. They need to sometimes work with kind of nefarious individuals. They need to make this company work. They started with the highest of ideals, but the spy world is a complicated place. So we really have a lot of fun early in the season with how this is going to work. Because you start off going, "Ah, man! This is complicated!" We'd figured out how this was going to work before, but now it's kind of fun coming up with new ways to tell our Chuck stories. And Chuck doesn't have the Intersect anymore. So from a story perspective, we have to break the show in a little bit of a different way. But I think that's a good thing. It's like, why not tell the story differently? Why not come up with a new way to tell a Chuck story?

He also discusses the possibility of bringing back guest stars from previous seasons:

Oh, yeah. We definitely want to bring some characters back this year. Hopefully we'll bring back some that the audience really wants to see and maybe a few they don't.

There's more at the link, including a couple tidbits about guest stars Mark Hamill and Carrie-Anne Moss. [IGN]

Elsewhere, Fedak says an upcoming episode will feature Chuck and Sarah on a Buy More business trip to an Embassy Suites...which he admits doesn't sound all that exciting, but he does promise some revelations about Sarah's past. He also says Ellie and Captain Awesome will be much more involved in Chuck's life this season:

"They know about Chuck's spy life now. They know about the [freelance spy] company. Things have changed. It's much more of a family story."

And here's one for the next episode after that, "This One Time at Space Camp":

Sen. Wen conducts final evaluations of the Astraeus candidates, and the aspiring crew mates are fitted with memory-reading devices that expose their inner motives for wanting to join the mission; Carter and Allison wear the memory-reading devices as part of their appeal to reverse the ruling on their relationship; bizarre attacks occur around town that could threaten the Astraeus mission.